Grant McLennan - RIP

It couldn't be any other way, could it? There will be no more Go-Betweens and there can't be. The story's told.

It would have been nice, though...just to have three more albums, even that. Six and six, as it were, a round dozen. Though I suppose with 78-79 and Very Quick on the Eye we had eleven already. Still not enough.

What makes it worse is their last two albums showed them hitting a creative peak again. They certainly went out on a high note.

I'd guess the Australians would know this Steve Haddan feller, but in any event turns out he was a friend of Grant's and just posted a massive message on the thread. Worth a read.

And almost right after that, this treasure from one Rebecca:

I went to see the Go-Betweens last year when they played at Hepburn Springs. We had booked both dinner and the show and my friends were running late so I made my way out to the bar to look for them and sneak a quick ciggie. Instead I saw Grant sitting at the corner of the bar, contently cupping a glass of frangelico with one hand while the other held a cigarette. I did a little bit of mental juggling about privacy and respect and intrusion but figured if he was sitting at a bar at his own gig he might not be too suprised if someone spoke to him. I approached him with my heart racing, aplogised for interrupting him and asked him if I could tell him a funny story. He smiled, asked my name, introduced himself(!) and said he'd love to hear a funnny story. I relayed a childhood adventure which, as I told him, was in fact more embarrassing than it was funny, and I could feel my cheeks burning hot with the rush of memory. I told him how over half my lifetime ago, when I was just fifteen years old and in love with the Go-Betweens music, my best friend and I had stayed at the same hotel as they had after one of their gigs. We were so in awe of them that we did not want to disturb them and spent the night in our hotel room, innocently enjoying the fact that it was enough to be close to them and we had managed to pull off a night away from home without our parents knowing! The next morning as they were leaving we rushed down the stairs and asked for their autographs. Robert was reading "On The Road" and did not want to be disturbed. Grant and Lindy chatted with us and signed a school book. I finshed my rather slighly stupid breathless account and was astonished to find that not only did Grant remember that day, he remembered the colour of our uniforms too. We then spoke of everything from politics, to boarding school, from surfing to the heat and light of Qld, about other languages we spoke and the places we had lived in. We smoked and drank till I was wobbly, I missed my dinner and my friends by by the time we had finished speaking my life was already changing.
Thankyou Grant for your gentle humour, your emotional generosity and your grace. Thanks too for getting me to Qld, onto a
board and over my fear of sharks.x

This posted on the Go-Betweens message board about an hour ago:

"Today I went to the website and read some of the magnificent tributes that have flown in for Grant. People for some days have been telling me of the beautiful things written there. And today I felt well enough and strong enough to go in and read. I thank you all. In time I shall read every one of them. I see familiar names scattered from our past. The vast majority I don't know. All of you Grant and I have met through our music. Your words and thoughts I find very, very moving. I sense the love and understanding for Grant and his music, and I take the support you send to me to my heart.

These last days I have Grant in my head. He talks to me in odd moments. I hear him... and I always will.

all my love
Robert Forster"

Here's my tribute to him: http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/pop_playground/didnt-know-a-heart-could-be-tied-up-and-held-for-ransom.htm

'time to time the waste, memory wastes'

A lot of melancholia and loss here amongst Brisbanians for whom these globe-trotting gents were the poets of our corners.

'time to time the waste, memory wastes'

A lot of melancholia and loss here, amongst Brisbanians for whom these globe-trotting gents were the poets of our corners.

Ally C - I remember that night too. I was lucky enough to be up there smoking that spliff with him, an absolute joy, what a lovely lovely man he was.
The first time I saw them play was The best gig I have ever seen: the Grant/Robert solo tour late 90's at a place called the Botanique in Brussels. It really made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, they played as if they were one...
I went with no expectations and they completely blew me away. I "got it" then.
Feel extraordinarily upset by this. Been playing his songs all day. Can't do any work.

Beggars have done a tribute putting "fingers" online: "http://www.beggars.com/news/fingers.mp3".

RIP Grant, you'll never be forgotten

Alfred, that is a beautiful piece in Stylus. Sympathetic and just in equal measure. Thanks.

Thank you! It was immensely difficult to write.

Understandably. Ya did well.

Praise thirded! Brings to mind those descriptions of their relationship as "platonic homosexuality," which neither GM or RF seemed to baulk at.

Kilbey's now added his thoughts about Snow Job, but also starts with an in retrospect heartbreaking story about the last time he spoke with Grant -- not that it was too sad at the time, but like I said upthread, you always think you'll have the time later to do something, which is what happened there. (Kilbey's on a pretty sharp tear this week, his follow-up post talking about his heroin hell of years back is brutal.)

Partly because of recent changes to ilx, or at least my experience of it, I have only just seen this thread, and only heard the news last night on the Radcliffe show. He played a recent song - 'Finding You'? - then moved on.

The news was stunning, somewhat bewildering. The man was only 50% older than me. It seems particularly sad, perhaps, in that he was part of a partnership, which must now end.

I have not always shared the view of the Go-Betweens held by many others (including, for instance, people on this thread). Curiously, though, my doubts about them have often led me to listen to them more extensively and even intensively than to lots of other artists. Through the struggle to hear the alleged greatness, I have become fond of them. Just recently I had dug out the tape that Cook made me and played it over and over - I had to write to Cook and tell him, and revive that conversation. I nearly revived the old GBs thread yet again, to express awe at some magnificent moment - of which there were, to borrow a phrase from Elvis Costello, more than one or two.

32. you are a young man still, pinefox.

Just a quick note to say that Grant's funeral service is happening later today in Brisbane -- 1:30 pm Friday their time. In Los Angeles that's 8:30 pm tonight, NYC 11:30 pm, etc. As the note on the official page says:

"We encourage you to remember Grant at this time, wherever you are in the world. Thank you."

I plan on doing just that with a playing of "Dusty in Here" and a glass of red wine.

And the various tributes on the thread continue, from all corners -- among more well known musicians, Tracy Thorn of Everything But the Girl had a marvellous story, Corin Tucker had some brief but moving thoughts while Guy Picciotto of Fugazi, much like me, felt that the news was 'like a punch in the stomach.' And the Pinefox's fave Lloyd Cole chimed in as well!

TRACEY THORN (Everything But the Girl): reading through all these messages of love yesterday, familiar names kept leaping out at me. peter walsh, dave haslam, lloyd cole, edwyn and grace....must be edwyn collins, i thought, and all at once it was like being spun back thru time.
must have been about 1982 or 83. i was in my band the marine girls, and we got a dream gig supporting orange juice and the go-betweens. if i look up just to my left now, i have the bright orange poster still on my wall. thursday 31st may at the lyceum in london.
we turned up with our 2 guitars and tiny amps, probably at around 6.30 to do the gig. only to be greeted by furious soundcrew and management people, demanding to know why we'd missed our soundcheck. "what's a soundcheck?" we asked in all innocence. we'd never had one before. it took the kind intervention of edwyn himself to stop us being sent home there and then...
backstage in our dressing room (another novelty) we encountered the whirlwind that was lindy morrisson, who burst in demanding to borrow lipstick.
that night marked the beginning of a friendship with the go-betweens, and for the next few years they just seemed always to be there, and those amazing songs were part of the soundtrack. after some pestering on my part they even let me sing backing vocals on the liberty belle album, and after that, at every gig i'd always be singing along inside my head. "there's only one thing that precious..."

such a lot has happened to all of us since that night at the lyceum, hasn't it?
i was reminded of how much time had passed when i last saw the go-betweens play, maybe a year ago, at the barbican.
grant sang cattle and cane, and i had to swallow hard and blink a few times. i guess i always will when i hear it now.

this goes out with much love to everyone at planet go-between, especially robert.
and grant, we always knew you didn't steal that line about his father's watch being left in the shower. it was just a joke...!

I just listened to "Quiet Heart" and wondered why on earth U2 ever wrote "With or Without You."

Wow.

Orange Juice, The Go-Betweens and the Marine Girls all one one bill.

If only I had a time machine.

some pieces from various Australian musicians and folks in memory of Grant

http://blogs.smh.com.au/entertainment/archives/club_metro/004542.html

Also from the tribute thread -- it's only signed as 'Martin' but context leads me to guess this is none other than Beggars Banquet head Martin Mills:

I got the news from Bob on the rainy saturday afternoon in England.While driving home, I was trying not to think of the songs.

Keep away from Cattle and Cane. Keep the bloody beautiful song from creeping into my head.

I have to play a record. Keep away from the old records. Play it safe.
Oceans Apart.Think of the time you and Grant went to Oceans Apart for a pint. I'll be fine.

No Reason To Cry and everything falls apart.Tears for Grant. Tears for Robert,Bob, Sharon, Bernard and all the Go-Betweens family.

Then tears for me. No more Grant songs.No more joyous happy shows with Robert.

I am priveliged and proud to have looked after and baby sat Grant's (and Robert's) songs for a quarter of a century.

Grant leaves behind an amazing and beautiful body of work that will be forever timeless.

Love Goes On !....

Grant's death was devastating. Luckily, I saw the GoBs many times growing up in Australia. Their songs have had a special significance to me - kinda like a sountrack to the best years of my life. I always used to prefer Robert's more quirky songs to Grant's more radio friendly tunes, however, after listening to their earlier LPs recently I noticed that nearly all of their 'hits' were written by Grant - eg: Cattle 'n' Cane, Right Here, Streets of Your Town and their latest 'AM hit'. Grant's love songs were always amazingly constructed. Consider these great lines from Grant's break up song: Was There Anything I could Do?
"She came down from the mountains / Said goodbye to her guru / She went back to her room / Lost herself in voodoo / I can't say that I blame her / People don't know what they want..."
I would recommend viewing The Striped Sunlight Sound DVD which features many of these songs live and as accoustic versions.
To be honest I haven't felt as bad since David McComb from the Triffids died. Another of Australia's finest songwriters - check out his wonderful masterpiece "I Want to Conquer You" from his solo LP.
RIP Grant (and David)
Tony Slaughter

Had my own private remembrance by playing 1978-1990 and having a glass of red wine. Rest well.

I listened to Grant's songs from 16 LL.

I've got on The "Fools in Love" bootleg - 4/1/89 - Chicago - the very first time I saw them live - Man, they were incredible in that era.

I'm jealous. I was too young to see them then, got into them about a year or two later. The boots I have from that period are really good.

sorry - I can't help but picture these:
http://www.pulpvintage.com/pics/items/12000104A.jpg

The song was "Cattle and Cane," not "Leather and Lace."

Wouldn't be surprised if Robert wore those in his cape period.

haha!

(god-damn! The git solo in The House That Jack Kerouac Built ... That's what I always loved about the go-betweens - those 'one-note-ish' plinkety plink solos.)

Since he was the band's nominal lead guitarist, I'd like to know what you pros think of his solos.

I don't, in truth, on the whole, think they're great. (Still listening again today.) But I am prepared to accept the view that their clumsiness is the point, or whatever.

The terrific instrumental break near the end of 'Cattle & Cane' is the best I can think of.

Raggett, could you post here what Lloyd said?

Soytenly -- he said:

I can only speak for my wife and I, but this is terrible news. Robert and Grant were rejuvenated by the Rachel Worth record which is my favourite 'come back' record by anyone, ever, and serves as great encouragement for notsoyoung folk trying to make music.
I'm toasting Grant, alone in a Lisbon hotel lobby.

I'm not sure if it's Grant, but the solos on "Spirit of a Vampyre" and the album version of "Man O'Sand to Girl O'Sea" rip.

an older colleague - a guy one year older than grant, in fact - was asking about the go-betweens the other day after subbing our paper's obituary. he then went out and got "16 lovers lane" on the back of what he'd read. i think there's something oddly uplifting about this. the spirit lives on, and all that. or something.

we got francis macdonald to do an appreciation too, but for some reason it didn't go on the website. i'll try and swipe it from the library and post it here if anyone wants; i don't think francis will mind.

Farewell to a Go-Between now gone
Andrew Fraser
13may06

ROBERT Forster's songwriting partnership with Grant McLennan was forged 30 years ago over Earl Grey tea and scones, and he toasted his departure from this world in the same way.

At yesterday's memorial service for the other half of the songwriting partnership for cult band the Go-Betweens, Forster recalled how last Sunday - the day after McLennan's death - he had gone to St John's Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane.

At the end of the morning service, when the parade of high church pageantry walked out the door, Forster felt his songwriting partner go with them.

"Then this nice Anglican lady asked me if I wanted a cup of tea, and I had a scone with it," he said. "It was the same in 1978 at a house around (Brisbane suburb) Toowong where Grant and I had learned to drink Earl Grey tea, and that really constituted the beginnings of the Go-Betweens."

Among the 500 mourners at yesterday's memorial service for McLennan were fellow respected Australian musicians Paul Kelly and Ed Kuepper.

But significantly, the service was also attended by members of the next generation of Brisbane bands after the Go-Betweens, such as Powderfinger, George and Regurgitator. McLennan had played with them all during the 1990s.

Forster and McLennan started the Go-Betweens when they were students at the University of Queensland. They achieved success with songs such as Cattle and Cane and Streets of Your Town, which U2 singer Bono regards as one of his top three favourite songs.

They were described in some quarters as Australia's Lennon and McCartney, but they were never stars of the charts, despite attracting a cult following in Europe, especially Britain and Germany. The Times of London this week carried an obituary of McLennan.

Yet they always came home to Brisbane. Even at age 48, McLennan still lived in one of Brisbane's best-known share houses in the inner suburb of Highgate Hill.

The Go-Betweens had several changes in line-up over the years and band break-ups were often acrimonious, but other band members Lindy Morrison, Amanda Brown and John Willsteed forgave and forgot enough to attend yesterday's service.

Ian Haug, from Powderfinger, and current Go-Betweens bass player Adele Pickvance read Psalm 23, and McLennan's sister Sally started her eulogy yesterday by saying, "I really do recall a schoolboy coming home through fields of cane to a house of tin and timber", the opening lines of Cattle and Cane, which has been voted among Australia's 10 best songs.

Forster described not only the Earl Grey and scones but also McLennan's sense of spirituality and his "warm, open and generous" nature.

Then the casket containing his body was taken out the door of into the bright Brisbane sunlight, loaded into the hearse, and, for the last time, Grant McLennan travelled through the streets of his town.

And there's this.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1637228.htm

They played "I'm a Believer" as people filed out, which seems perfect.

His girlfriend read the lyrics from Jacques Brel's "If You Go Away" -- heartwrenching choice, but apt.

Robert Christgau has a piece up at the Voice now. It ends nicely ewith this:
"Admittedly, McLennan's pick hit came early, in 1982: "Cattle and Cane," about childhood in the outback, shows up on many greatest-songs-of-all-time lists, including U2's. But now that he's lost his voice, remember 2005's "Finding You": 'What would you do if you turned around/And saw me beside you/Not in a dream but in a song?' Or 2000's "The Clock": 'But then the clock turns/And it's now/And its you-ou-ou-ou-ou-ou.'"

I had missed that apparently he was going to propose to Emma P. at that party. Jeez Louise. :-/

That's the only place I've read that.

I almost choked up again. I wonder how Robert held up..

Here's one more obit, by my friend and colleague Justin Cober-Lake:

http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/060512-grantmclennan.shtml

Interesting to read Paul Kelly pay tribute. It never occurred to me that Kelly would be influenced by the Go-betweens, but why not? I guess Australia, for its vast size, is really a small, tight-knit music community.

My Aussie relatives have never shown any interest in home-grown talent. Maybe for his birthday I'll buy my brother in law Simon "16LL."

My narcissistic reaction to the news (still sinking in) was that, as long as my own health holds up, every single musician I love and respect will pass in my lifetime. It's a sad, scary thought, incentive alone, I suppose, to find new bands and musicians to love and respect. Though few I imagine will be on par with what the music Grant made meant to me.

The Australian Senate passed the following resolution on Thurs 11th May in recongition of Grant and his work: (courtesy of Senator Andrew Bartlett from the Australian Democrats)

The Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) the loss suffered by the Australian music community and music lovers with the death on 6 May 2006, of Queensland born and bred songwriter and musician, Mr Grant McLennan,

(ii) the contribution made to music by Mr McLennan as a songwriter and performer over nearly three decades, which is highly respected and widely recognised as very influential,

(iii) that the song ‘Cattle and Cane’, written by Mr McLennan and performed by the Go-Betweens was named by the Australian Performing Rights Association as one of the ten greatest Australian songs, and

(iv) the significant inspiration that Mr McLennan and the Go-Betweens provided to musicians from Brisbane and beyond over many years; and

(b) conveys its sympathies to his mother, immediate family and past and present band members.

The stories keep coming on the tribute thread -- it moves me at how closely the band ended up intertwined with so many stories of domesticity, for lack of a better word. Lots of tales of relationships and love and children.

Wow, Senator Bartlett offers the best incentive to vote for the Democrats in quite some time!!